Clinton rallies college crowd on the border

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated Press

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Coming off another round of stinging primary defeats, Hillary Clinton returned to South Texas Wednesday to show that her opponent is not the only one who can draw big college crowds.

On the University of Texas at Brownsville campus less than a mile from the Mexican border, Clinton promised to improve education for Hispanics, make college affordable for every American and develop a better illegal immigration plan than the one that threatens to divide this campus with a border fence.

But first she will have to stop rival Democrat Barack Obama.

Clinton is counting on primary wins in delegate-rich Texas and Ohio March 4 to close the gap Obama has won all 10 contests since Super Tuesday Feb. 5. Obama won by wide margins in Wisconsin and Hawaii Tuesday. Clinton will need 57 percent of all remaining delegates to surmount Obama's lead.

As in her visit to the Rio Grande Valley last week, Clinton drew on her experience registering voters door-to-door along the Rio Grande in 1972 to connect with the crowd. An estimated crowd of 4,000 packed a lawn behind the student union on a humid Wednesday night.

"When I was a student I came to the Valley for my very first political job," Clinton said. "I'm going to crisscross Texas but my heart is always in the Valley."

"She knows the Valley, she knows our struggles," State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. shouted to the crowd. "South Texas will make the difference in winning the state of Texas."